


Context- Regency Era

by SHARKMARTINI



Series: An Unexpected Courtship [1]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell, Simon Snow & Related Fandoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22194445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHARKMARTINI/pseuds/SHARKMARTINI
Summary: A quick guide to some regency-era concepts for those that want a little bit of context before reading A Gentleman's Agreement.
Series: An Unexpected Courtship [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1597630
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56





	Context- Regency Era

Hi guys,

This is just a little bit of a primer for anyone who wants more context before reading A Gentleman's Agreement. The fic is set ~1830s, but know that all of my research comes from romance novels or google, so if you're into history or know anything about the regency era, please consider cutting me some slack.

I don't really think you need much context to get the gist of the story, but I've clarified some topics/concepts in case you're curious.

**The Peerage/ton/gentry:** Hereditary system of lifetime titles/ranks, making up the British honour system. There's a very long and frankly boring history, but basically it’s the noble rankings. In descending order of rank you get Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. A lot of the prestige of these titles came not only from the actual title itself but it's relative age, with newer titles being less prestigious than older more 'tenured' ones. Anyone who is called "My Lord," in this fic is a member of the peerage, as well as anyone who is referred to as 'Lady'.

**Forms of address:** This is something I found interesting but really isn't relevant to the story beyond what's in the fic. Basically there's all these rules dictating what to call members of the peerage in different contexts, and who is allowed to use what names, etc. It's wild. I have a link below in case you're interested and have a lot of time to kill.

**The season:** Generally accepted to be April until midsummer. Most peers lived on their country estates and only came to London to socialize and engage in politics during the season. This is when balls/parties/etc would be held, when everyone was around in one place. It was also the ideal time to try and find a match (since all the events made plenty of opportunity to socialize and make new acquaintances), and debutantes would be introduced into society at the beginning of the season. This fic takes place during the season, when Simon would be attempting to make new acquaintances and find a match.

**Introductions:** You had to be introduced to someone before you could talk to them. Especially if they were a higher rank than you. Generally you'd become acquainted with someone, and then eventually over time you could deepen that to a friendship if you knew and liked them well enough and the feeling was mutual. But the idea of going up and just introducing yourself to someone was pretty much not a thing, so becoming acquainted with someone specific would usually take time and energy (and a mutual friend!).

**Dance Cards:** Ladies were given cards at balls that listed all the dances for the evening. Gentlemen would ask for a dance, and the lady would write their name down on her card. There's also a lot of etiquette around who you can dance with, how many dances you can dance with the same partner, whether to keep the same partner for the same 'style' of dance (usually yes)- I ignore it all in this fic, because I am lazy, and I didn't want to deal.

**Courtship:** The regency era form of dating, basically. Once you were acquainted, you could receive permission from a lady's father (or guardian, if her father was deceased) to 'court' her, which basically meant entering a period where you could get to know each other better, with the intent of eventually marrying. Chaperones were still required during courtship.

**The Victorian Language of Flowers:** If you didn't have the balls to say it, or didn't want people to hear you say it, you could say it with flowers (which seems stupid, because apparently everyone just knew that the flowers had meaning so if a random person saw the arrangement they could tell what you meant anyway.) Whatever. There are some flowers mentioned in this story, I've linked below the super easy guide I used to assign meanings to them.

**Gretna Green:** No really relevant in this story, but it's mentioned once or twice so I'll give some context. It's a parish in Scotland, and became pretty much elopement central as a result of changes to the English marriage act. Scotland kept the old laws, which meant basically anyone over the age of 15 could marry as long as they were not related or already in a relationship with someone else. It was pretty close to the English border and relatively easy to get to, which made it a popular place for couples to elope.

**Author's Note:**

> Resource for forms of address: [HERE](https://www.chinet.com/~laura/html/titles12.html)  
> Resource for the Victorian language of flowers: [HERE](http://thelanguageofflowers.com/?ref=organicgglunkwn&prid=pfseogglunkwn)


End file.
